Automatic switch for electric circuits



2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

(No Model.)

B. BELPIELD.

AUTOMATIC SWITCH FOR ELECTRIC CIRCUITS.

No. 584,843. Patented June 22, 1897.

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INVENTOR By W K ZATTOHNEYS WITNESSES:

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(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

R. BELPIELD. AUTOMATIC SWITCH FOR ELECTRIC CIRCUITS. No. 584,843.Patented June 22, 1897.

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WITNESSES. INVENTOR A TTOHNE H5.

UNITED STATES PATENT EEieE,

REGINALD BELFIELD, OF LONDON, ENGLAND, ASSIGNOR TO THE ESTING- I'IOUSEELECTRIC AND MANUFACTURING COMPANY, OF PITTSBURG, PENNSYLVANIA.

AUTOMATIC SWITCH FOR ELECTRIC ClRCUiTS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 584,843, dated June 22,1897.

Application filed June 19,1895- Serial No. 553,289. (No model.)

To aZZ whom it may concern: relative arrangement of the switch-arms andBe it known that I, REGINALD BELFIELD, a stationary contacts, as well asthe form of subject of the Queen of Great Britain and Ireeach, will bevaried in practice as may be land, residing in Ilford, London, in thecounty found necessary or desirable.

5 of Essex, England, have invented a new and Mounted rigidly upon theshaft 3 and near 55 useful Improvement in Automatic Switches the endopposite to that carrying the contactfor Electric Circuits, (Case No.644,) ofwhich arms 45 and 5 is a stop-lever 8, having a long thefollowing is a specification. arm 9 and a short arm 10, the former beingMy invention relates to apparatus forautoprovided on one side at itsouter end with a [O matically making and breaking electric cirlug 11, inalinement with the short arm, or, 60 cuits; and it has for its object toprovide an if preferred, the two arms may be in the apparatus of thischaracter which shall be same vertical plane and each provided withautomatically and invariably operated whena lug at its outer end, aswill be readily unever the current in the controlling-circuitbederstood. A worm-wheel12 is loosely mount- I 5 comes either greater orless than a certain ed upon the shaft 8, adjacent to that side of 6predetermined value, and one which shall the stop-lever 8 which bearsthe lug 11, a operate with absolute certainty to instantaconnectionbetween this worm-wheel and the neously close the switch-contacts or tosepashaft being made by means of a stiff coiled rate them, as the casemay be, in such a manspring 13, one end of such spring being at- 20 nerand to such a degree as to preclude the tached to the shaft and theother to the worm- 7c formation of arcs between them. wheel in such amanner that as the wheel is A further object of my invention is therotated in the direction indicated by the arprovision of a methodwhereby either the prirow in Fig. 1 and the shaft is held stationmary orthe secondary of a transformer in a ary the spring will be placed undersuch ten- 2 5 distant station may be instant-1y and invasion that itwill cause the shaft to rotate 75 riably cut in or out, or any otherelectric whener er the latter is released, as will be circuit may beopened or closed. hereinafter more fully described.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, The worm-wheel 12 is providedwith a cam- Figure 1 is a side elevation of my switch in groove on theface adjacent to the stop-lever open position. Fig. 2 is a plan view ofthe 8, the two main portions 14 and 15 of which 80 switch in closedposition and includes a diahave the form of arcs of circles, the radiusgram of circuits and translating devices to of the former being somewhatgreater than which it is applicable. Figs. 3 and atare diathat of thelatter. These two arc-shaped grams of circuits showing furtherapplicaportions of the grooves are connected at diations of theinvention. metrically opposite points by spaces 16 and 8 Reference beingnow had to the drawings 16 of considerably greater width. in detail, 1is a suitable base which supports Pivoted to a suitable boss orprojection on hearing blocks or standards 2 for a shaft 3, the base 1 isa stop-1ever17, provided with a on which are rigidly mounted two pairsof pin 18, which engages with the caingroove 4o movable contact-arms 4and 5, each pair bein the worm-wheel 12. This stop 17 is so o ingsuitably insulated from the other pair. cated with reference to thestop-lever S that Mounted upon the base 1 in such a position one or theother of its arms will normally enas to be engaged by the arms 4: and 5at cergage with it and thus hold the shaft 3 against tain points intheir movement as the shaft movement.

rotates are the stationary contacts 6 and '7. 19 is a small electricmotor supported by 5 Each of these contacts preferably comprises thebase 1 and connected by means of suit two strips or leaves, betweenwhich the movable gearing 20 with the worm-shaft 21, the ablecontact-arms engage, as is usual in sosaid shaft carryingthe worm 22,which meshes called knife-switches. with the worm-wheel 12, and thuscauses it It will be understood that the number and to rotate as long asthe motor 19 is in opera- 10o tion. As this motor always runs in thesame direction, the worm-wheel will also rotate in the same directionand tend to wind the spring 13.

The motor 19 may derive its current from any suitable source, but in thepresent instance it is shown as included in the circuit of a battery 23.The respective terminals of this battery-circuit are connected tocontactpoints 24C and 24: 011 the base of the machine. Thesecontact-points will be made of metal or carbon, as may be desired, andeach pair will be electrically connected.

25 represents a plurality of translating devices fed from the secondarycircuit 26 of a transformer 27, the primary of such transformer beingsupplied with current from a suitable generator-circuit 28.

Mounted upon the base 1, and preferably at the end opposite to thatcarrying the motor 19, is an electromagnet 29, the coil or coils ofwhich are included in the circuit 26. The armature 30 for theelectromagnet 29 is supported by an arm 31, pivoted to suitablestandards 32, only one of which is shown in Fig. 1. This arm 31 isprovided at its outer end with a pin 38, which engages with thecam-groove in the worm-wheel 12. Depending from the arm 31 are one ormore contact strips or springs 34:, the lower ends of which project,respectively, between the pairs of contact-points 2i and 24'. This arm31 is also preferably provided with an adjustable counterweight Thecontacts 6 constitute the terminals of the circuit 36 of the primary ofthe transformer 37 and the contacts 7 constitute the terminals of thesecondary 36 of the transformer 37. This secondary circuit is soconnected that when the circuits are closed by contact-s i 6 and 7 thecurrent from the secondaries of both transformers will traverse the coilof the electromagnet 29 and the translating devices 25.

The mechanism hereinbefore described may be very considerably modifiedby any one skilled in the art without departing from the spirit andscope of my invention, as will be readily understood. For example, othermeans than a worm-gear may be employed for rotating the wheel providedwith the cam-groove and a plurality of cam-grooves or wheels, or both,may be employed. The grooved wheel may also be rigidly mounted upon itsshaft and the releasing devices attached to the motor mechanism, so thatthe switch will be released after the motor has done a certain amount ofwork. These and many other variations may be adopted, if founddesirable.

Assuming that the several parts of the apparatus are in the positionshown in Fig. 1, the operation is as follows: The current from thesecondary 26 of the transformer 27, passing through the translatingdevices 25, will also traverse the coil of the electromagnet 29, andthus tend to attract the armature 30. As in this position of theapparatus the pin 233 will be in the enlarged portion 16 of thecam-groove,the armature will be free to move. If the counterweight is soplaced as to 0X actly counteract the magnetic effect of a current justsufficient to supply the translating devices in circuit, there will beno movement of the connected parts. If, however, an additional number oftranslating devices be switched into the circuit, thus causing anadditional flow of current through the magnetcoil, the armature will bedrawn downward and the other end carrying the pin elevated, thusbringing the contact-springs 34: into ongagement with the contact-points2t and 21- at the right, thereby closing the circuit of the motor 19.This will start the motor, which, by means of the gearingbetween thesame and the worm-wheel 12, will cause the latter to retate. \Vhen thewide portion 16 of the camgroove reaches the pin 18, the stop 17, whichnow supports the short arm of the stop-lever S, will be graduallypressed outward until the stop-lever is released, when the spring 13,which has been gradually placed under increased tension by the rotationof the wormwheel, will quickly reverse the stop-lever, bringing the endof the arm 9 into contact with the stop 17 and closing the switches (5and 5 7, thus closing the primary and secondary circuits of thetransformer 37 and adding the secondary current to that supplied to thetranslating devices by the transformer 27. As the action just describedtakes place while the pin 33 engages the narrow portion of thecam-groove, the contacts 21-, 2 1, and 23:; will remain in engagementand the motor 19 will be kept running until the wide portion 16 of thecam-groove reaches the said pin 33, when the latter will be pressedoutward by the inner wall of the groove until the contact is broken andthe motor stopped, the parts being then in the position shown in Fig. 2.The shape of the cam is such that it will cause armature to be broughtback approximately to the position it occupied before the cycle ofevents above described occurred and will prevent any movement thereof inthe di rection of the magnet. The armature is free to move in theopposite direction, however, whenever the counterweight shall oven comethe pull of the magnet. A similar locking arrangement is effected by thewide portion 10 of the cam, except that it is so shaped as to permit thearmature 30 to move only toward the magnet 2.), as above described. Apin at) is attached to the rotating wheel 12, so that if by any meansthe switcharn1s at and 5 should strike between the leaves so that thespring alone will not be able to move them the pin will come intocontact with the arm 10 of the lever 8 and force the switch-arms tomove.

hen the switches 4: (l and 5 7 are closed and a sufficientnumberoftranslating devices are cut out to materially decrease the demand forcurrent, the countcrbalancc-weight will overcome the pull upon armatureSOby magnet 29 and the contacts 34: and the points 21 24-, opposite tothose heretofore described as in engagement, will be brought intoengagement, thus closing the motor-circuit 19 and starting the rotationof the worm-wheel 12. As this rotation continues the stop 17 will begradually moved inward until it clears the lug 11 on the end of the arm9 of the stop-lever 8, as before described, and the spring will reversesaid lever and thus quickly open the switches a 6 and 7, interruptingboth the primary and secondary circuits of the transformer 37.

I desire it to be understood that any known auxiliary means forsuppressing or extinguishing arcs which may form or tend to form betweenthese stationary and movable contacts may be employed, if desired,without departing from my invention; but such devices will probably beunnecessary under most circumstances on account of the very rapid andWide separation of the contacts.

The diagram of circuits illustrated in Fig. 3 is intended to show theuse of my invention at substations for making and breaking the circuitsof the secondaries of the substationtransformers in accordance with themanipulation of the switches in the feeder-circuits of the main station.in this figure, 3S represents the main eircuit,fed by generators 39 andstO and 41 and 42, the feeder-circuits extend ing between the mainstation and the transformers 43, 4st, and 4L5 at the substations. 46 arethe feedenswitehes for these feeder-circuits, and 47 the electromagneticdevice hereinbefore described, the coil of which is included in thefeeder-circuit at each substation. The switching device described inconnection with Figs. 1 and 2 is here connected in the secondary circuitof the transformer at each substation which supplies suitabletranslating devices 48. Assuming that the secondary circuits are open,if the feederswitches 46, or any one of them, be closed theleakage-current, through the corresponding primary at the substation,will energize the actuating-coil of the electromagnet 47 sufficiently tostart the switch-motor, which closes the secondary circuit.

It will also be apparent from the foregoing description that if thefeeder-switch be opened the flow of current in the primary of thetransformer at the corresponding substation and also in theactuating-coil 4L7 will cease and the switch-operating motor will bestarted and will open the secondary of the transformer. It willtherefore be readily understood that the transformers at the substationsare at all times under the control of the attendant at the main stationand may be cut into or out of circuit without the employment of anyadditional conductors other than those employed for feeding thetranslating devices and also without any attention at the substations. 7

Referring to Fig. r, 3 is a generator-cm cuit fed by generators 4-1, and42 are the feeding-mains for the primaries of transformers 43, 41-, and45, located at substations, 48' being the work-circuits fed by thesecondaries of such transformers. 50 is a second circuit fed by abattery or other source of current 51. This circuit extends to all thesubstations and includes at each an electromagnetic device 29 like thathereinbefore described, which controls a switch 52 in the primarycircuit of the transformer,these switches being like that heretoforedescribed.

It will be understood that the opening or closing of the battery-circuitat the main station will effect the cutting in or out of the primariesof all the transformers at the substations.

It will be apparent to any one skilled in the art that a solenoid andcore or other equivalent device may be employed in lieu of anelectromagnet and armature for closing the motor-circuit; but I prefersubstantiall y the construction illustrated and described, for thereason that the strength of the magnetic field, and therefore the forceexerted upon the armature, is increased the nearer the armature isbrought to the poles of the magnet, thus surely and effectuallyattracting and holding the armature in the position desired.

I desireto be understood not only that the form and arrangement of theseveral parts may be widely varied without departing from the spirit andscope of myinvention, but that the apparatus, either in the formillustrated and described or in a modified form, may be utilized inother relations than those which have heretofore been descibed. I donot, therefore, intend to limit my invention to any of the detailsdescribed, except in so far as limitations may be imposed by the stateof the art.

I claim as my inventionl. An automatic circuit opening and closin gswitch comprising stationary and movable contacts, a local circuithavingits own source of current, an electric motor therein rotatable inone direction only, switch-actuating mechanism intermediate the rotatingmember of the motor and the movable contacts, a main circuit and anelectromagnetic device therein for opening and closing the motorcircuit.

2. The combination with a shaft having a switch-arm and a stop-leverrigidly mounted thereon, of a disk loosely mounted 011 said shaft andprovided with a cam-groove, a spring connecting said shaft and disk, amotor for rotating said disk, a stop movable into and out of the path ofmovement of the stop-lever by said cam-groove, an electromagnetic devicepartially controlled by the cam-groove for starting and stopping themotor, substantially as described,

3. The combination with a shaft having a switch-arm and a stop-leverrigidly mounted thereon, of a worm-wheel mounted on said shaft andprovided with a cam-groove, a

spring connecting said shaft and Worm-wheel, a movable stop controlledby said cam-groove, a worm meshing with said worm-wheel, an electricmotor and mechanism between the same and said worm, an electromagnet, anarmature having an arm engaging the camgroovc, and means carried by saidarm for opening and closing the motor-circuit, sub stantially asdescribed.

4. A system of electrical distribution comprising a central station andsubstations, means located at each substation for cutting thetransformer into or out of circuit and a controlling-switch located atthe central station, the substation-circuit-controlling means being setin motion by either the opening or the closing of the oentral-stationswitch.

5. A system of electrical distribution comprising a central station andone or more substations, and means located in the primary circuit ateach substation whereby the secondary of the substation-transformer isout into or out of circuit as the corresponding feeder-switch at thecentral station is closed or opened.

6. The combination with two circuits having independent sources ofcurrent, of a motor and a switch therefor in one of said circuits, anelectromagnetic device in the other of said circuits for controllingsaid switch, a wheel rotated by said motor, a cam for controlling saidelectromagnetic device and a second switch the opening and closing ofwhich are both effected by aone -way movement of said motor.

In testimony whereof lhave hereunto subscribed my name this 20th day ofMay, A. D. 1895.

REGINALD BELFIELT).

Witnesses:

ETHAN I. Donns, lIUnnnT .TENER.

